As a curt dislocation of the media fallout and static generated by the Gulf
War, Muslimgauze's Baghdad brings together heavy electronics and samples
voices plucked from the air over some gently earthshaking dub effects. "Negative
Of Ethiopia" and "Zion Under Islamic Law" scratch and
dazzle with particular intensity; deep sonic equivalents of starring at the
sun for too long. Recorded in November 1997, and the first Muslimgauze release
not to have been scheduled until after Bryn Jones's death, the Sufiq EP flails
and spins like a dervish ritual in a Tangiers back street. The closing composition, "The
Last Most Of Herzegovina" is a stark reminder that it's always Closing
Time in the Great Bar somewhere.

review by Ken Hollings
This text originally appeared in The
Wire magazine (issue #197)
The Wire on-line index.